Firozabad

Firozabad is a city near Agra in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the centre of India's glassmaking industry and is known for the quality of the bangles and also glasswares produced there.

This article is about the municipality in Uttar Pradesh, India. For its namesake district, see Firozabad district.
For other uses, see Firozabad (disambiguation).

Firozabad
City
Mahavir Digambar Jain temple of Firozabad
Nickname(s): 
The city of Glass and Suhag Nagari
Firozabad
Coordinates: 27.15°N 78.42°E / 27.15; 78.42
CountryIndia
StateUttar Pradesh
DistrictFirozabad
Government
 • TypeMunicipal Corporation
 • BodyNagar Nigam
 • Member Of Parliament (MP)Dr. Chandra sen Jadon (BJP)
 • MayorNutan Rathore (BJP)
 • Member of Legislative Council (MLC)Dr. Dilip Yadav (SP)
 • District MagistrateChandra Vijay Singh IAS
Population
 (2011 census)
 • Total603,797
Languages
 • OfficialHindi
Urdu
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
283203
Telephone code05612
Vehicle registrationUP-83
Websitefirozabad.nic.in

During the reign of Akbar, revenue was brought through the city, which was looted by the afghans. Akbar sent his army led by Firoz Shah Mansab Dar to make the city a cantonment to collect taxes and the city was named after him. The tomb of Firoz Shah is still present today. From early times, it had glass and bangle works, and small scale industry. The landowners of Firozabad hail from the Sayed, Manihar, Pathan and the Hindu Rajput castes. Firozabad is located in north central India, in Uttar Pradesh, 37 km from Agra and around 230 km away from Delhi, at the northern edge of the Deccan Plateau, at 27°09′N 78°24′E. It is located 164 meters (540 ft). \ above sea level.

The boundaries of Firozabad district touch Etah district in north and Mainpuri and Etawah districts in the east. The Yamuna river makes its southern boundary. The area of the district is about 0.8% of the total area of Uttar Pradesh, and the population is 1.1% of the state's total population. Approximately 73.6% of the population lives in rural areas. More than half of the workforce is engaged in manufacturing activities. The city is also an important market centre. It has moderate to severe winter and summer seasons. Child labour specially female child labour is practised widely in this city.[1]

History

The name Firozabad was given in the regime of Akbar by Firoz Shah Mansab Dar, where the Battle of Chandrawar was fought between Kannauj and Mohd Ghori in 1566. It is said that Todarmal was passing through this town, on a pilgrimage to Gaya. He was robbed by robbers. At his request, Akbar, sent his Mansab Dar Firoz Shah here. He landed near or about Datauji, Rasoolpur, Mohammadpur Gajmalpur, Sukhmalpur Nizamabad, Prempur Raipura. The tomb of Firoz Shah and ruins of his residence haveli in Katra Pathanan now almost disappeared are the evidence of this fact.

Mr. Peter, a businessman working for the Dutch East India Company visited Firozabad on 9 August 1632, and found the town in good condition. It is written in the gazetteer of Agra and Mathura that in 1596 Faraz was upgraded to a pargana. Faraz was bestowed to Nawab Sadulla Khan as jagir, in the regime of Shahjahan. Jahangir ruled here from 1605 to 1627. Etawah, Budaun, Mainpuri, Faraz were under first class mansabdar of emperor Farrukhsiar. Baji Rao I looted Firozabad and Etmadpur in 1737 in the regime of Mohammad Shah. Jats of Mahawan attacked Faujdar Hakim Kajim ali bahadur jang at Firozabad and killed him on 9 May 1739. Jats ruled Firozabad for 30 years. Gajuddin, Hidayat Vaksh son of Alamgir second his nephew and Mirza baba the son in law, came to Firozabad. Mirza Nabab Khan stayed here till 1782. In the end of the 18th century, Firozabad was ruled by Himmat Bahadur with co-operation of Marathas. The French Army chief of Marathas, D. Wayan, established an ordnance factory in November 1794. Mr. Thomas Traving also mentioned this fact in his book Travels in India. Marathas appointed his subedar Lakwadads here who made a fort near old tehsil, known at present as garie.

General Lek and General Vellajally attacked Firozabad in 1802. In the beginning of British regime Firozabad was in Etawah district but after some time it was attached to Aligarh district. When Sadabad was created as a new district in 1832, Firozabad was attached to it. Later on, in 1833 Firozabad was attached to Agra district. In 1847, the business of lac was flourishing at Firozabad.

In 1857, Zamindar of Firozabad with local public took active parts in freedom struggle. Urdu poet Munir Shikohabadi was sentenced to Kala pani by the British East India Company. People of this city took part in "Khilafat Movement", "Quit India Movement", and "Namak Satyagrah" and went to the jail during these national movements. In 1929, Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi, in 1935 Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, in 1937 Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and in 1940 Subhas Chandra Bose visited Pandit Banarasi Das Chaturvedi, a two time member of Parliament - said to be the father of Hindi Journalism and the recipient of Padma Bushan. Firozabad district was finally established on 5 February 1989. In 2015 it became a Nagar Nigam.

Geography

Firozabad is located at 27.15°N 78.42°E / 27.15; 78.42.[2] It has an average elevation of 164 metres (538 ft).

Climate

The lowest recorded temperature in Firozabad was −1 °C; the highest was 48 °C.

Climate data for Firozabad
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 22
(72)		 25
(77)		 32
(90)		 38
(100)		 41
(106)		 41
(106)		 35
(95)		 33
(91)		 34
(93)		 34
(93)		 29
(84)		 24
(75)		 32
(90)
Average low °C (°F) 8
(46)		 10
(50)		 16
(61)		 22
(72)		 26
(79)		 28
(82)		 27
(81)		 26
(79)		 24
(75)		 19
(66)		 13
(55)		 9
(48)		 19
(66)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 10.2
(0.40)		 12.7
(0.50)		 10.2
(0.40)		 10.2
(0.40)		 15.2
(0.60)		 66.0
(2.60)		 195.6
(7.70)		 226.1
(8.90)		 114.3
(4.50)		 27.9
(1.10)		 2.5
(0.10)		 5.1
(0.20)		 696
(27.4)
Source: Firozabad Weather

Demographics
Religions in Firozabad City[3]
Religion Percent
Hindus
 
 62.36%
Muslim
 
 32.80%
Jainism
 
 1.76%
Not stated
 
 1.51%
Christians
 
 0.22%
Buddhism
 
 0.20%
Sikhism
 
 0.14%

As of 2011 India census,[4] Firozabad City had a population of 603,797. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Firozabad has an average literacy rate of 75.01% higher than the national average of 74%: male literacy is 85.32%, and female literacy is 63%. In Firozabad, 16% of the population is under 6 years of age

Transport

Firozabad railway station served by the Delhi-Howrah trunk route of the Indian Railways. Several trains serve the city connecting it to long and short distanced destinations including New Delhi, Howrah, Mumbai, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jaipur, Jammu Tawi, Amritsar, Jamshedpur, Patna, Aligarh, Agra, Hathras, Puri, Ajmer, Ambala, Bareilly, Mathura, Etawah, Gorakhpur and Tundla.

Tundla Junction railway station in the Tundla town (20 km west of Firozabad city on National Highway 2) of the Firozabad District is a major railway station of North Central Railways. Due to its proximity to Agra several trains on the Delhi Howrah route which don't stop at Firozabad station make a stop at Tundla Junction hence serving Firozabad as well as Agra cities.

The city is 45 km east from Agra on National Highway 19 which makes it an important stopover for the transport vehicles on this highway. Firozabad hence is connected to several bus services to the Western and Eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh state. Due to proximity to Agra and hence the borders of Uttar Pradesh with Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh states several inter-state bus services also serve the city. Intra-city transport typically consists of Rickshaws and 3-wheelers

The City is well connected with Yamuna Expressway and Taj Expressway to national capital New Delhi and state capital Lucknow respectively.

Water problem

Since few years, Firozabad has been suffering with a severe water pollution problem. The water has been polluted by the indiscriminate discharge of wastes by the industries, causing a literal water "crisis". The water has been tendered practically unusable. Citizens have no option but to install water purifiers at home and use packaged drinking water for consumption.[5][6][7]

Air pollution

Air pollution by Firozabad's industries have been held responsible among other contributors for the corrosion of the Taj Mahal's white marble, due to acid rain and polluted air. Firozabad was then added as part of Taj Trapezium in 1996, which banned the use of coal/ coke in industries located there, the introduction to Gas Pipeline from Gas Authority of India Limited in the glass industries have reduced it to some extent.

Market

Shastri Market located in heart of city, is a main shopping market in Firozabad where you can get all sort of shopping items. Raniwala Market is also a market located in the heart of city. The market owned entirely by Raniwalas, the family which also owns six Jain temples in the city. Raniwala trust is one of the prominent trusts in the city.

Industry

Glass industry

During ancient times, invaders brought many glass articles to India. These glass articles when rejected, were collected and melted in locally made furnaces called "Bhainsa Bhatti." In this furnace, wood was used as a fuel. These old traditional furnaces are still in use in Sasani near Aligarh and at Purdal Nagar and were originally used only for making smaller bottles and bangles. The glass industry specially the modern glass bangles technology was started and invented by Haji Rustam Ustad. The shrine of Haji Rustam Ustad is in Sofipura, a village on the bank of Yamuna River. His shrine is situated just opposite the shrine of the Sufi saint Shah Sufi. Every year a grand fair is held to pay homage to the father of Firozabad glass industry "Haji Rustam Ustad".This fair is attended by all people irrespective of caste, class or religion. By current production standards, only one bangle at a time can be made using these furnaces. These bangles had no joints and were locally known as "Kadechhal Ki Chudi". Over time, production slowly became more widespread among the locals. This was the start of the glass industry in Firozabad. Since then Firozabad has been the home of India's glass industry. White and coloured glass pieces being manufactured for the purpose of assembling jhad and fanus (chandeliers) which were in demand by royal courts and nobles for decorating their assembling and drawing rooms. Later on phials for Itra, scents, and other cosmetic products were made. Gradually, Indian marriage items like bangles, kangans, kada, etc. too began to be produced in bulk for the general public. There is area known as Bohran Gali that sells bangles, kadas, kangans and other items of married women.

Since 1989, Firozabad has produced artistic glassware in different colours and shades used in chandeliers and other items. About four hundred glass industries are registered in Firozabad, making different types of glass products. They use natural gas instead of coal. Half of the production of these units is exported. Nowadays, blowing/modeling is done by the Pot Furnace and Regenerative tank furnace in the factories.

Firozabad with the changing time has entered into new era of Glass Manufacturing, it has become a major hub of manufacturing different Glass based items and has registered its global presence, diversifying its industrial base and encouraging ancillary industries including Chemicals, Packaging and more of service sector based industries have flourished in a short span of time.

All sorts of glass articles, including jars, candle stands, glasses, flower vases, and electric wares such as decorative lights, bulbs and every other sort of glass articles are prepared in this city. These articles are painted with vivid colours and innovative patterns. Etching is done on some products to enhance their beauty. Decoration work is also done on some products by fixing other material on them.

Tourist attractions

Lord Bahubali Jain Temple

In Suhag Nagari, holy center of “Jain Nagar” was established by Lt. Seth Chhadamilal. The temple has a 45 foot granite idol of Bahubali, the largest in North India, weighing more that 3500 tonnes. There are many Jain temples near this temple.[8]

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References
  1. Mike Davis: Planet der Slums, Assoziation A, Berlin, 2007, page 196
  2. Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Firozabad
  3. "Firozabad City Census 2011 data". census2011.co.in.
  4. "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  5. http://www.icontrolpollution.com/articles/physicochemical-characteristics-of-glass-industries-waste-water-in-firozabad-district-up-india.pdf
  6. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/agra/agra-family-of-six-attempts-suicide-after-facing-acute-water-scarcity/articleshow/69917025.cms
  7. https://www.krishisanskriti.org/vol_image/11Sep201505090522.pdf
  8. "Lord Bahubali Temple". Uttar Pradesh Tourism. Retrieved 8 February 2019.

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